The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership gave workers in Imo State orders on Tuesday, October 7, to begin the complete grounding of the state. They were told to turn off the state’s electricity supply and prevent any aircraft from landing or taking off from Imo.

The leadership of the NLC also decided to call for a national walkout on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.

There are still unclear circumstances surrounding the NLC’s current appeal for workers and their latest threat of a strike by the organization’s leadership, which is led by Comrade Joe Ajaero—a man who was previously brutalized in Owerri.

Although the NLC’s narrative claims that he was brutally arrested by the country’s security forces, reports from Imo indicate that his supporters actually turned on him when they realized the protest march he had organized—which he claimed was a protest to force the state government to comply with worker demands—was actually a political rally supporting a specific party in the state’s governorship election on Saturday.

According to the second narrative, it was the timely response of the police, who took him into protective custody, that saved Ajaero from being lynched by his supposedly angry members.

Though the public may never know the true account of what actually transpired, except the actors at the scene volunteer unbiased accounts, the union has resorted to calling for the total grounding of Imo State, and declaration of nationwide strike.

There is no doubting the fact that the powers of a labour union are enormous, potent and potentially disrupting, especially when they decide to use what should be their last resort, strike to exact goodies from the management of their organisations or government.

Stakeholders believe these powers, must however be used responsibly, with caution and consideration for the greatest good, of not just their members, but the entirety of the people.

It is left to be seen what good cutting off power supply to an entire state or grounding of air travel will do for the millions of Ndi Imo because of an Ajaero, or because the entire civil servants in the state, who are less than 10 percent of the state’s population.

The call for or declaration of strike, just few days before the governorship election in the state, some have said, gave away the labour leaders as unpatriotic, disrupting individuals with possible ulterior motives.

Some believe that aside the current threat, the Ajaero-led NLC leadership may go down in history as the most tackless leaders the NLC ever had, as it churns out threats of strike at any given opportunity it has to bare its fangs.

Since the the beginning of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, the Ajaero NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), have issued strike notices many Nigerians are beginning to lose count of.

A labour lawyer and right activist, George Anthony told Allnews that It is natural and expected in any society that when what is supposed to be your most potent tool is misused, it loses, not just its value but it’s potency.

He said, “For many Nigerian workers, the NLC and the TUC are no longer representing their interests, because they have failed to successfully achieve concrete results from their too many threats of strike and actual strike actions.

“For many of these workers, participation in strike actions may just be for the purpose of having some days off work for rest before they are abruptly called back, which had always been the case, without any visible result.

“A strong and responsive labour movement is no doubt a necessity to protect the interest of workers, and it is part of the rights of the Nigerian people, constitutionally, to be free to organise themselves into unions that can represent them and protect their interests.

“This must however be seen to be done with the best interest of workers at heart and not just grandstanding, developing into semi-gods that see themselves, not as the servants of the workers they ought to be but overlords that must be obeyed and their words taken as the law.

“It is no doubt a shame that the NLC will resort to chasing out workers, who defied their stay at home orders during strike in the name of enforcing same.

“Resorting to chasing out workers is nothing but a testament to the fact that these same workers they pretend to fight for, do not, on many occasions, support their actions or trust them to deliver the goods.

“If you have the to embark on strike at will, another person should also have the right to choose whether to stay at home or go to work, without unnecessary coercion. It is a right you cannot take away from him!”

Also speaking to Allnews.ng, a lecturer with the Lagos State University who pleaded not to be mentioned said: “In saner climes, labour unions engage in robust negotiations, even when manipulated, they tend to negotiate their demands, giving room for compromises, if their overall objective will be achieved.

“But when union leaders become obstinate, taking hard stands and unwilling to shift grounds, negotiations cannot achieve the desired results.

“The Ajaero-led NLC must reinvent itself, oil its negotiation skills, be more responsive to the real needs of Nigerian workers and avoid what is called ‘see finish’ in Nigerian local parlance with the use of threat of strikes, if it must regain its potency.”

Others have, however, argued that considering the assault on the labour leader and the current inaction of the government to address the matter, the strike action is ultimately right.

Recall that the Imo state commissioner of police has since been redeployed to the force headquarters over the alleged illegal arrest and assault on the NLC leader.